Yarn Detective
Ito Kinu = Shakerag Splendor
One of the most beloved Modern Daily Knitting patterns just got an amazing upgrade with a new silk yarn.
The combination of Amy Christoffers’s Shakerag Top and feather-light Ito Kinu yarn may be summer top perfection.
Ito Kinu is a laceweight yarn, but can be knit at a bigger gauge.
I’m currently swatching for my own Shakerag Top and knitting with Ito Kinu in weather that’s 85 degrees and about the same humidity—and it’s one of my loveliest summer weather knitting memories in a long time.
Bonus (for me, at least) is that it’s tweedy. Its multicolored flecks add interest and depth to the yarn.
Yes, Clara Parkes is 100% right that wool can be comfortable year round, but there is something sublime about knitting and wearing soft, breathable silk in hot weather.
Please Swatch
Please swatch to avoid disappointment or making a chihuahua-sized sweater.
The size of needles you may have used to knit other Shakerag Tops (or lace-sized yarns) may be too small for this project. Even as a very loose knitter, I went up needle sizes for my swatches.
Note that the gauge in the pattern is for double-strand fabric, not single. Who didn’t notice at first? That’s right, me, who now has lots of other swatches just using a single strand.
I knit three quick swatches in Gold Oak to get a feel for the yarn, as well as finding my gauge numbers.
I first tried the needle I would start with for a lace yarn. Holy tightness, Batman! I was off by 2+ stitches per inch!
I went up three needle sizes and got within one stitch per inch, then up two more sizes and finally got gauge.
There is a grabbiness to silk noil yarn that lets it shift gauge and still hold structure.
Looking at all three of my swatches, I would use any of them. They all look and feel great, but only one matches the gauge of the Shakerag Top.
What Is Silk Noil?
Ito Kinu is made from 100% silk noil. Silk noil is made from the silk waste of other products.
Usually when I think of silk, I think of the shiny, drapey kind. Silk noil is not that kind of silk.
It’s not smooth and is made from broken, short pieces of silk that aren’t aligned in any way. The photo shows unspun silk noil on the left, and some leftover bombyx silk (the shiny kind) on the right.
Silk noil makes a wonderfully textured, matte yarn. This yarn is not as drapey as shiny silk yarn, and the combination of the texture and matte surface makes it cling a bit instead of slipping on your needles.
I wouldn’t recommend using metal needles for the other type of silk yarn, but silk noil, given its grab, knits just fine on them.
Silk noil yarns are sometimes called bourette yarns, or raw silk yarns. Technically raw silk is silk that hasn’t had the gummy bits washed out, but I think silk noil, which is washed and not at all sticky, is called raw silk because the fabric has such a rustic quality to it.
Another plus for silk noil is that it is environmentally friendly since it is made from the waste of other yarns and fabrics. It’s also wallet-friendlier than bombyx silk.
Playing with the Colors
Ito Kinu is great for marling colors together (just ask Cecelia Campochiaro) and the colors available are gorgeous!
I’ve been playing with marling different colors for my Shakerag Top and think I’m going to use these three somehow: Gold Oak, Violet, and Rose.
I like one strand of brown marled with pink or purple in the double-strand stripe. I’m deciding whether to alternate the three in single the strand stripe or just go with one. The whole range of colors is so much fun to pair and play with.
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I love your palette. I chose Mint and am going to be swatching for mine today. I have been dreading it given all the warnings since normally I am spot on with pattern gauges. I am encouraged by your comment about metal needles, though. I had equipped myself with wooden ones in the specified sizes, but should the swatching go south… As Clara Parkes would say “Onwards!”.
Wow. Purple is not my thing, but marled with the brown it is just gorgeous.
Thank you! I learn everything I read your essays/tutorials. I have always had to read more than once important info. This is a save! Diane
Look forward to seeing the results, Jillian!
Oooh, I love this for a hot Texas summer! I guess I DO need to cast on a third Shakerag top! 🙂
Perfectly timed and much appreciated perspective for the Shakerag top in Ito. I am anxious to cast on and now super excited to try some marling with other colors! I have the Cayenne Red as primary color and believe I’ll try it with a gray or brown tone. Thank you, Jillian!!
I always learn useful information from you, Jillian. As a fellow member of the loose knitters club, I’m saving this one.
I really like the idea of marling 2 colors together!
I’m knitting a Shakerag with Snow Gray Ito Kinu using Tulip interchangeables, 4.5mm. (Your article on Tulips caught my attention for the first time just this week and I’m trying a pair of long tips and a cord.) Combining two colours of this lovely yarn, especially Violet and Rose, seems perfectly tailored for me because I tend to drop one strand: colours with some contrast will make finding these strands so much easier!
Thank you! I always read your columns with great interest and enjoyment.
Thank you for a fascinating article! I love deep dives into yarns. I read some time ago that silk noil/raw silk is made from the shattered cocoons of the silkworm when the worms are allowed to mature & emerge naturally, whereas the shiny smooth silks are unspooled from cocoons that are boiled to melt away the gummy substance that holds them together. This boiling kills the silkworms inside their cocoons. When I learned this, I stopped using silk yarns for a while, although they absolutely were my favourites. Later my daughter-in-law, who’s from Thailand & whose grandmother produced silk in her village, said that the villagers ate the cooked silkworms, so at least they didn’t go to waste!
I am 3/4 through my Ito shakerag top and finding it a great summer knit, indeed. I am a little disappointed that the Angora color is darker in person than its photographs. In fact, it looks kind of dirty on its own. But it would marl superbly with any other color. At this stage, I don’t have the heart to unravel the whole business and start again with marling. I may try to distract from the meh-ness of Angora by adding some edging in a different color.
I love your columns. I always learn so much. Now I really want to try this yarn!